


The Hunter & The Crusader

by greywrites, UmiAzuma



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe Fantasy, Captain America Big Bang 2019 | cabigbang, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, Interspecies Relationships, M/M, Minor Ableism, N'Zoth is Hydra, Sam is a good bird bro, Sylvanas Windrunner is a little bitch, World of Warcraft AU, human/orc relationship, lore can kiss my ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-01 05:50:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21405076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywrites/pseuds/greywrites, https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmiAzuma/pseuds/UmiAzuma
Summary: Working Title: Steve Rogers, Freedom Crusader istiredWorld of Warcraft AU. Bucky is a runt of a Mag’har orc of the Horde, too small and too gangly and missing an arm, but he tried his best to help his faction with whatever he can, even if that means just being a hunter and a babysitter to his orphaned cousins. Steve Rogers is a Freedom Crusader, a paladin at the service of the High King of Azeroth, and one of the king’s most trusted fighters.Thanks to the High King Anduin’s antics, they meet, and become friends eventually, and then something else maybe, but there’s a war in the horizon, and they’ll have to prove their worth to their factions, to themselves and to each other.
Relationships: Anduin Wrynn/Original Male Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	1. Prologue

When Buck was born, his mother hid him.

His father had been a Mag'har orc. He fell in battle leaving his mother pregnant and alone. Later she gave birth to Buck. And hid him.

She knew he would not amount to much. Born without an arm as he was, but she was willing to protect him with her life if necessary.

By the time anyone found out about Buck, he was already too big for anything to be done about him or his missing limb. They would figure out what to do with Buck when he came of age. There was use for anyone and everyone in the Horde, even if they had missing parts. 

Maybe when the clans were spread out and there was no Horde, Buck would have been cast away, thrown into the wilderness so the elements or the animals would feed on him and end his short life, but not in this new Horde. He could prove himself eventually, he could be useful despite the fact a lot of people thought a one armed orc was pretty much useless.

Buck, however, was not useless at all in his duties. He could skin raptors and kill scorpids with the same proficiency as any other warrior. Still, he was not fit for battle. 

The Warchief glanced at him and decided he was too short, too gangly, not strong enough for fighting. Deemed him valuable in other areas, maybe. 

Maybe Buck could be a healer. He would need his two hands to be a shaman. If he could tame an animal, maybe he could become a hunter. Hunters were always useful to the Horde. Buck huffed and puffed but stayed behind and looked wistfully as the troops left to fight for the Horde.

One day he'd have his chance to prove himself.

  
  


Meanwhile, Steven Rogers had been born in Stormwind, the only son to his father, a great warrior who fought in the service of King Varian Wrynn. Now Steven served under the new King Anduin Wrynn. He was a paladin, trained to protect the innocent and bring freedom to the oppressed. The Light was with them and they were with the Light.

Steve had worked hard to be where he was. His father had little faith in him. When Steve was a child, he was small and sickly, his mother would hardly allow him to go anywhere by himself. She was afraid he'd catch any illness or the exertion would be too much for his fragile body. When he told his parents he wished to become a paladin, his mother refused. He could become a priest if he wanted, but not a paladin, never a paladin. Steve was disappointed that his parents did not trust him.

So he ran away. It didn't take long for his parents to find him, as it was a cold night and his mother fretted constantly. They found him buried under the snow. His parents feared they would lose him forever. But the Light had other plans for him.

He had a fever for a few days, they called in the priest to help the transition into the Light for Steve, so sure he was leaving them. And a month later, he woke up, taller and stronger. He could run without his lungs betraying him. He could become what he had always wanted to become.

It was a miracle.

His father proudly allowed him to train to become a paladin. He had the chance to grow close to the prince Anduin. They seemed to have their desire for peace and justice in common. When King Varian died and Anduin ascended, Steve stood with the rest of his order. He was part of the King's guard. He had ascended as well.

His father was proud.  _ He _ was proud of himself. 

But the Light always has other plans for everyone.   



	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is tired. Bucky is also tired.
> 
> Anduin is a menace

There was something to be said about the curiosity of orcs. There was something else to be said about Buck's curiosity.

The Alliance delegation, preceded of course by the King of Stormwind arrived in Dalaran when Buck was just intending to return to Orgrimmar. He'd just been in Silvermoon city, and was still trying to get flowers off his hair from the stupid blood elves when all the armor clad paladins walked by.

His newly acquired dragonhawk flew close to his left shoulder, as Buck stared in wonder at the brilliant people. Their armors shone like diamonds and their hair looked like spun gold threads. 

Buck had never seen humans before. He wondered which one of them was the High King. 

He tried to get closer and felt someone touch his only arm.

"Best stay away from dat dere lot, mon." Said an old troll, shaking his head and taking Buck away. "Dey be no good, no good."

"But…" Buck looked at the shiny armors one last time before being taken away. His new pet flying nearby. 

His mother was not pleased. She complained that those same shiny armors were the ones that took his father, and he should know better than to go anywhere near them.

"I wish the Warchief Hellscream were still alive, he promised me he would take revenge for your father. All those humans would be long dead and gone." She spat. Buck made a noncommittal noise and fed his dragonhawk some jerky. "Get that beast off the table, Bucky!"

Buck took his bird reptile pet and left the hut. He didn't know his father so he never really thought ill about whoever it was that took his life. His father died fighting and that was that, it was an honorable way to die for an orc. And he didn't much care about the late Warchief Hellscream. Someone who had tortured children, regardless of their race, could not possibly be a good person and would have probably tossed Buck to the wolves as a baby for missing an arm. Then he’d never hear his mother call him Bucky again.

Bucky let his dragonhawk roam free and followed him. Perhaps they could find something to hunt outside.

  
  


Steve had learned early in his friendship with him, that Anduin Wrynn was a damn menace.

He pretended to be all sweet and prim and innocent but he was really a little shit. The meeting with the Horde went as well as was expected, of course, but that was neither here nor there.

Apparently, the Horde was divided. In other times, Varian would have used this division to dismantle the Horde, destroy it from its foundation up. But Anduin was not his father, nor did he care for such things. He’d told Steve once that dismantling the Horde would do more harm than good in the long run, what they needed was to seek an agreement between both factions that satisfied everyone involved.

He as well as everyone he had met that day in Dalaran had wanted nothing but to get rid of the banshee queen once and for all, the Horde seemed to be willing to work with Anduin and the Alliance, offer them whatever resources they needed, as far as they could rely on their help the same way should it be necessary. Anduin agreed. They all wanted the same thing, no more deaths, no more misery and pain. Two factions sharing a planet and trying their best to work together to make their piece of the world a better place. Stormwind had no interest in bothering the orcs, and they could even provide them with their much needed lumber, the one the night elves didn’t want to part with easily.

The two factions scattered, Steve was going to probably look at something in the market to buy for his mother when Anduin took his arm and pulled him to a nearby corner. 

"Did you see the young orc with Thrall and Overlord Saurfang?" He asked with a raised brow and a smile like the proverbial cat that got the cream.

"Yes I did, Your Majesty."

"His name is Kragna Wolfbrother, he's part of the defunct Thunderlord clan. He claims to descend from one Fenris Wolfbrother, his grandson or something, I have no idea. Thrall brought him here so he'd learn a thing or two about leadership. I suspect he wants to make him Warchief eventually."

"I see."

"I am going to give you a very dangerous mission, Rogers."

"What mission, Your Majesty?" Steve frowned, Anduin's smirk grew wider as he moved closer to Steve to whisper in his ear.

"Ask him to meet me tonight, in my tent. If he doesn't want to, you come and tell me, I don't want to get my hopes up."

"Do you think he's interested?"

"I can feel him looking at me right now, and not in the way one would glare at an enemy. Go, stop asking questions. Chop chop."

Anduin left, looking as innocent as possible. Steve sighed. People liked to call Anduin the Virgin King because so far he hadn't married or fathered any children, bastard or otherwise, but there was absolutely nothing virginal about the High King. Not anymore. To think he had wanted to be a priest when he was a young boy.

Steve squared up and waited until his king's new interest was alone to approach him.

"Kragna Wolfbrother?" He asked, voice barely a whisper, the orc raised a brow. It was not usual for humans to know the language of orcs, but Steve had learned a lot of things as a bedridden child.

"Who's asking?"

"The High King of the Alliance."

  
  


The next morning Steve entered the High King's tent and picked up Anduin's shirt. He balled the piece of cloth in his hands and threw it at the blond's face.

"Ow Steve, what?" Anduin sat up, looking annoyed. Kragna Wolfbrother still slept, an arm slung carelessly over Anduin's waist.

"Did you have a pleasant night?" Steve asked. He didn't understand why Anduin would fancy a creature like  _ that _ , he didn't even look attractive at all, but who was he to judge the High King's preferences? Anduin dropped back in bed, snuggled close to the sleeping orc and nodded at Steve.

"Mmm yes, very. What time is it?"

"Late enough for the Horde to be wondering where your lover might be." Steve kicked a pair of leather breeches that obviously didn't belong to his king. "You had your fun with him and now he has to  _ go _ ."

"I'm not done with him, and he told me Thrall knows where he is."

"Do you think any of the orcs he came with approve of him sleeping with you?"

"I  _ said _ they know  _ where _ he is not  _ what _ or  _ who _ he is doing."

Steve sighed and shook his head.

"You are terrible! Will you have breakfast out with your people or stay here with your new toy?"

"I think I'll stay here, have someone send my food here, please."

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Steve made to leave and saw Anduin snuggle against the sleeping lover's chest. He knew the High King liked to play with fire sometimes, but he wasn't sure Anduin knew how close he should get to said fire.

If he burned, that would be his fault and his alone. Steve went to retrieve his food. It wasn't his job to worry about what Anduin did or  _ who  _ Anduin did on his free time.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Steve meet. Anduin remains a menace.

Bucky liked to fancy himself a decent enough hunter. His mother seemed satisfied with the kills he and Sam (his precious red and white dragonhawk, a rare kind of animal to attract as they usually only liked elves, the tamer said) brought her every day. It was enough to feed them both and the three orphan girls his uncle and aunt had left behind.

Of the three little orc girls, Bucky liked Bec best. She was gentle to Sam and didn't care that Bucky didn't have an arm. She saw Bucky as the bravest and strongest orc out there because he brought large birds and wild hogs to eat. The girls would grow stronger than he did, if he could do anything about it.

There was also the fact that he could go and sell the pelts of his hunts and get some coin out of it. His mother didn't use the coin he earned much, she said she liked to save it "for a rainy day", Bucky didn't understand what that meant, as it never rained in Orgrimmar. 

He was soon to find out what his mother meant. As I said before, there was something to be said about the curiosity of orcs. Particularly, there was something to be said about Bucky's curiosity. Such curiosity is what led him to go back to Dalaran the very next day. He was curious about the armor clad humans, he wanted to see them up close. Wanted to know more about them. 

He saw the armor clad people standing near what looked like a portal, there was a mage casting it, as well as how the Horde people got there from Orgrimmar, the paladins used a portal, as Dalaran wasn’t easy to get to. He was hiding behind some boxes staring when he felt someone grip his arm and he was face to face with another orc.

“What are you doing here, one-armed wonder?” The other orc said, Bucky identified him as the annoying younger brother of Ceduk Wolfbrother, spirits, he hated those two.

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” He spat back, the faster he could get out of this idiot’s grip, the better.

“I’m here for someone.” Kragna smirked. “Do you want to go on an adventure, hunter?”

“What kind?” Bucky raised a brow.

“The kind where we get in an awful lot of trouble.” Kragna took his wrist and they walked behind a few of the boxes, watching as the group of paladins and servants escorted the High King through the portal. “When I count to three, we jump to that portal, you hear?”

“What?! But that would take us to Stormwind!”

“Exactly, little hunter, so you aren’t such an idiot after all.”

“I don’t know if you realize but there’s a bunch of  _ them _ ” Bucky pointed at the paladins, “in Stormwind, and there’s only gonna be two of  _ us _ if we go.”

“We’re not going to pick a fight. Now focus, they’re getting away and the mage is distracted. One, two… three!” Kragna pulled on Bucky’s arm and Sam screeched and flew rapidly behind them as they ran. 

Bucky heard some screams, the mage yelled something at them, but it was too late, they had gone through the portal.

  
  


Objectively, at least the Stockade's prisons weren’t as uncomfortable as Bucky thought they would be.

He was, however, not happy that they took Sam from him and locked him somewhere else. He could hear him screeching in the distance. His poor pet, Bucky just hoped he was not hurt. He could hear Kragna pace on the other cell. 

They were caught as soon as they stood outside Stormwind Keep, like Bucky had predicted. They were lucky to not be  _ dead _ .

“You better not be hurting Sam or I will kill anyone who walks into my cell!” Bucky hollered, gripping the cell bars, Kragna told him to shut up.

“I can’t believe I brought you with me, one-armed wonder…” Kragna said with a long sigh.

“My. Name. Is. Buck!” Bucky spat. “And it’s not like I  _ wanted _ to come here, you didn’t even give me a choice, you just dragged me here.”

The door to the prisons opened and Bucky could hear heavy steps, Sam screeched again, Bucky could hear chains.

A blond paladin stood before them, his armor was blue with red and white accents here and there, still, it shone with the light that came through the window like he was some sort of divine apparition. Bucky stared in wonder.

“Kragna Wolfbrother.” The paladin said, brow raised. “I didn’t think I would see you again.”

“I’m hard to get rid of.” Kragna said, Bucky could  _ hear _ the idiot’s smirk and rolled his eyes. “Anduin told me to do this, actually.”

“You will address the High King as  _ King Anduin _ , orc. And somehow, I find that hard to believe.” The paladin crossed his arms, though it was a hard feat with the bulky armor. He turned to Bucky, who was still staring in wonder. “And who are you?”

“I’m Buck.” He said, but it came out weird, Bucky wanted to slap himself. The paladin raised a brow again.

“No last name?”

“He hasn’t earned one.” Kragna supplied, Bucky rolled his eyes again. “We’re not much for last names, I’d just call him one-armed wonder if I were you.”

“Well you are not me and that’s a terrible thing to say to someone who is missing a limb. How do you know he doesn’t deserve a last name? Who are you to say?”

Bucky blinked. Did this human just defend his lack of a limb? No one besides his mother had ever done such a thing. 

“Listen, can you just tell  _ King Anduin _ that I’m here? Please?” Kragna whined, the paladin rolled his eyes. Bucky could feel his annoyance on a spiritual level.

“Do you think His Majesty has time to come down here and talk to you? He’s a  _ king _ and kings have no time for such silly things. They are busy doing their kingly duties!”

“He told me to come here!”

“Well then, I’ll tell him you’re here and  _ maybe _ he’ll come or maybe he won’t because he’s too busy doing royal things to worry about some  _ plaything  _ he found in Dalaran.”

“ _ Plaything _ ?!” Bucky was officially confused, what was this paladin even talking about?

“Well tell him and see!”

The paladin sighed and dropped his arms to his sides.

“Fine. But I’m sure you’re going to be here for a  _ very _ long time, Kragna Wolfbrother, and if you cause some friction between the Alliance and the Horde with your stupidity, I will kill you myself.” The paladin turned around and made to leave.

“Hey wait, we told you our names! The polite thing is to tell us yours!” Kragna yelled, and Bucky was so close to just sticking his hand out through the bars and trying to strangle him.

The paladin turned slightly and smirked.

“Fine. I am Steven Rogers, Freedom Crusader.” He said, and turned to leave them alone. Sam screeched again when the paladin walked past his cage. Bucky looked at the paladin leave until he was out of sight. 

His armor shone even in the dark. His hair looked like golden threads even after he stepped away from the lights that came through the large windows. A human with hair like gold and eyes like storm had defended him, had not looked down at him because he was missing an arm. 

Huh, now  _ that _ was something.

  
  


Steve went and told the king that his paramour was in Stormwind.

“He’s here? What is he even  _ doing _ here?” Anduin stood from his desk, but Steve knew better than to believe the king was shocked that Kragna Wolfbrother was there. Anduin had a tendency to grow attached to those he had sex with for a little while, unless they were idiots, like Kragna, then he’d become attached to them for a  _ long _ while. It had something to do with Anduin liking stupidity in men. Steve was concerned that this orc was going to hurt Anduin’s future as High King. 

It would be a scandal if people found out the King of Stormwind, the  _ High King _ of the Alliance, liked to engage in illicit relationships with  _ orcs _ of all creatures. 

“He said  _ you _ told him to come here, Your Majesty.”

“But not  _ right now _ ! What am I going to do with him here right now? He’ll only distract me!” Anduin dropped his entire body on the chair yet again. “What am I going to do? Aunt Jaina will kill me, and it’s too late to send him back, it’s already been an entire day, his kind and his family will already probably notice he’s gone, he was supposed to leave with the rest of the Horde that came to Dalaran. Thrall will obviously notice, Overlord Saurfang won’t be happy and he already dislikes me enough. This is a disaster.”

“In the future, can you find smarter orcs to fuck? It doesn’t matter if they aren’t handsome.” Steve pleaded. “Not saying this one is handsome either, but at least you should find a smarter one.”

Anduin pouted but didn’t move from his chair.

“I actually  _ like _ this one, stupid and all.”

“I can’t help but wonder why.”

“He’s stupid, I like that. Please, do not tell anyone that he’s here just yet.”

“Your Majesty,  _ everyone _ knows, they’re running around like headless chickens, thinking there’s more than two orcs and they’re facing an invasion or something. He’s lucky to be alive.”

“Two?” Anduin frowned and sat up. “He brought someone?”

“Some other orc, a hunter, it seems. He had some strange flying animal with him, and he’s missing an arm.”

“Great, I  _ told _ him I would send a message to him and to wait for me to tell him where we could meet, I never told him to come here  _ now _ and I certainly didn’t tell him to bring company.”

“For the love of the Light, Anduin, next time you try to venture outside of your race, do it with someone who has half a brain. If this one had one more brain he’d be a half wit.”

“But he’s  _ really _ good in bed, though.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“I’ll go and see him later, I’m too busy right now with this whole thing with Sylvanas.”

“At least the reunion with the Horde was productive.” Steve counted their blessings, at least they knew Thrall and his people could be trusted. Not for sure, however, considering Kragna Wolfbrother’s stupidity. And who knew where the other orc came from. “We can consider ourselves fortunate they’re on our side in this. At least until they find out their compatriots are missing.”

“I’ll have to send a letter to Thrall or something. Tell him that Kragna is an idiot and somehow got here but he’s unharmed. Aunt Jaina will throw a fit, Genn will  _ most certainly _ throw a fit."

"When does Genn  _ not _ throw a fit?"

"True." Anduin smiled, he looked exactly his age when he did. Steve knew he was still just a boy, like he was. "You may go, Rogers. I have some letters to write."

Steve made to leave, then turned around again.

"I just have one question." Anduin raised his gaze from the paper to look at Steve. "What is it like? I mean what was Kragna like that night?"

Anduin sighed and smiled that naughty little smile, like he knew something nobody else did and was amused by it.

"He was  _ good _ and very gentle. Surprisingly gentle, actually. Maybe that's why I liked him more. You don't think his kind would be that way. It was like he was afraid of hurting me."

“At least he was good to you. Go see him later, or he won’t shut up and the guards are already very annoyed with him.” 

“Please tell them not to kill him.” Anduin shot Steve a pleading look, the paladin had to smile. 

“I will try.”


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hydra makes an appearance finally.
> 
> Anduin is, sadly, still a menace.

Since they were there, it was only natural for them to get interrogated.

However, they only interrogated Bucky, because that night one of the guards came and took Kragna out of his cage and escorted him out. Kragna wiggled his stupid eyebrows and left with the guards. Bucky didn’t know  _ why _ Kragna wanted to go to Stormwind and why he was being escorted out but he hated him. Sometimes he wanted to punch him in the face. As soon as Kragna’s stupid smirk was out the door, Bucky was alone with the paladin.

Steven Rogers, Freedom Crusader. Bucky was a little intimidated by this guy. He’d never seen a human so close before, and he didn’t know what they were capable of.

“Tell me,” Steven took a nearby chair and sat in front of Bucky’s prison, “what do you know about the Horde?”

“I’m not telling you anything until I see that Sam is safe.”

“Sam?”

“My dragonhawk. His name is Sam.”

“That’s a dragonhawk? I’d never seen such a creature before. Where did you get him?”

“At Sil-- why should I even tell you? Give me back my bird!”

“The way I see it, you’re a prisoner and are in no position to demand anything at all from me. You came to Stormwind through a portal that was not designated for you. You’re lucky to still be alive. That bird of yours wounded two of the soldiers of the king. I should have you both executed for even setting foot on Stormwind. Now tell me, where did you get the bird.”

“I tamed him myself out in the wild, happy?”

Steve sighed.

“Yes, but  _ where _ ?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Sam was just doing what he was trained to do, which is to protect me from any threat.”

“I see.” Steve stood from the chair and went to the cage where Sam was chained. Bucky knew his pet was chained because he could hear him shuffling around and could hear the chains moving as he tried to fly comfortably around the cage. Steve took the dragonhawk by a chain on the animal’s neck and pulled him out of the cage. “Do you want him back?”

“Sam! Release him! He’s just an innocent animal!”

“An animal that hurt two of my soldiers, attacking them like a feral beast, we don’t know if he’s poisonous or something.”

“He’s not! Give him back!”

Sam screeched in Steve’s ear and made to attack him but the paladin dodged it. 

“Blasted bird!”

“Sam, stop!” The dragonhawk stopped trying to attack Steve and just flew miserably around the paladin. “What do you want to know?”

“Anything, strategies, members we should worry about, anything on the banshee queen.”

“You’re funny.” Bucky scoffed. “You realize I got just the one arm, right? I am as valuable to the Horde as a one legged pony. I’m no one, I’m nothing. The only thing I do in Orgrimmar is hunt animals for my mother and care for three orphaned little orc girls. I’m a babysitter, I’m useless. If you think I know anything about the banshee queen you’re in for a life of disappointment. I’ve never even  _ seen _ the witch!”

“What does your arm have to do with anything?”

“I don’t have it, I can’t contribute to the Horde in a meaningful way. I mean, I can, but not the way I want to. So I don’t know about no strategies or members or the banshee queen. I’ve never even  _ seen _ her. Last Warchief I saw was Go’el when I was a  _ child _ and that was like sixteen years ago.”

“You don’t know anything at all.”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Fine.” Steve sighed, opened the door and almost throws Sam into the prison with him. “If you try to use the bird to escape, I will skin you both alive and have your remains sent to Orgrimmar in a box.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Bucky petted Sam gently, the bird rubbed his beak and head against Bucky’s cheek.

Steve tried very hard not to smile at the scene, it was actually _ cute _ to see it. Instead, he turned around and left. Bucky sat on the floor and offered Sam some of his own food, which the dragonhawk took happily.

Steve would have to speak to the king about this. He walked the stairs up to Anduin’s quarters and opened the door. He immediately regretted doing such a thing.

Anduin was on his bed, with Kragna on top of him. They were naked. As soon as the door opened Anduin shoved Kragna off him so fast and so swiftly the orc fell off the bed with the loudest noise Steve had ever heard. The king tried (and failed) to cover himself with the sheets, but it was too late.

“I wish I had never seen that.” He said, looking away as both Anduin and Kragna tried to find their clothes.

“What is  _ wrong _ with you, Rogers? Did your parents never tell you to knock when a door is closed?”

“I wish I had  _ never _ seen that!” Steve repeated, louder this time, and with feeling.

“Then get out!” Anduin was looking desperately for something to throw at Steve to make him get out of the room. 

When Steve finally left (and he looked very traumatized by the scene he just had to witness) Anduin sat on the bed and pouted. Kragna sat by his side and tucked his blond hair behind his small ears. What a wonder they were, human ears. So small and round and adorable. He leaned forward and bit the High King’s ear gently.

“He’s gone, my love.” Kragna said in Anduin’s ear, he could feel the human shiver slightly, his whole body shaking in anticipation. “We can go on.”

Anduin was turning to jelly in his arms, letting out soft little sighs as Kragna licked his neck and bit his earlobe and his hands wandered along the human king’s stomach, down between his legs. He was pretty interested again, but before Kragna could go on, Anduin stood abruptly and walked to the door. Kragna frowned, he wondered if the king was going to leave or kick him out of his bed, instead he went to lock the door.

“No one will interrupt us again.” Anduin marched slowly, his hips swaying a little, as he straddled his lover. “Now, where were we?”

This night was going to be very interesting.

At night, Bucky could not sleep.

He had strange dreams about storms and rays of gold and the sound of chains and swords hitting swords. He could hear the cries of the wounded, dead exhaling their last breath, and then suddenly, a dark horrible cloud and bodies rising from the blood stained dirt, ready to keep fighting again.

The banshee queen. He heard battle cries of different clans, of different races. Bucky woke with a start. He’d had strange dreams like these before, but never this vivid, never this explicit. Mostly they were about the weather or the people around him. Never about the war the factions waged with each other. His mother always wondered if he would have been better suited to be a shaman instead of a hunter, but Go’el took one look at his missing arm and sadly shook his head. Bucky was not made to be a shaman, he said, the elements told him Bucky is made for something else, something better, what that was, the Warchief did not know. That was for Bucky to find out in due time. Sam flew around him worriedly. Bucky extended his one arm to pet the animal’s head and beak.

“I am fine, dear friend, I really am.” Sam cooed and chirped as Bucky petted his feathered head. The feathers of the dragonhawk turned to scales just where his wings began, and despite not having any claws or talons, the bird-reptile was lethal when it came to hunting.

Bucky could not ask for a better companion. He curled up in his cot again, and Sam curled into a small ball on his shoulder, where his left arm should have been, chirped one last time and slept.

Bucky didn’t dream again that night. 

The next morning, they brought him fruit and some other things to eat, but he pushed everything away for Sam to eat, the reptile-bird needed it more than Bucky did, after all. When Steve visited him in the afternoon, he noted that the young orc had barely touched his food.

"You don't want to eat?" He asked casually. Bucky shrugged.

"Is Kragna alive?"

"Much to my chagrin, yes." Steve sighed, twice already had he encountered the High King and Kragna Wolfbrother in some intimate scene. He  _ really _ wished the King would learn to lock doors.

"Is the Alliance going to work with the Horde to banish the Banshee Queen?"

"Yes they are, actually they know that Kragna is here and they think he can help quicken negotiations. Why they would think that half wit can do that is beyond me."

"Then why am I still a prisoner?"

"Better safe than sorry, we don't know what you might want here. As soon as we know where you're from,  _ maybe _ we will free you."

" _ Maybe _ ?"

"Yes, maybe, if your intentions are unjust, then you'll probably rot in here." Steve shrugged again. "A shame."

"Why?"

"I'm curious about your pet and how you acquired it."

"Well it's  _ my _ pet and I won't give him to you."

Steve looked away petulantly. He didn't want the stupid beast, he just wanted to know  _ how _ Bucky procured it. He had seen the animal injure some of his best fighters, and a creature like that could be useful for battle.

Irritated by the orc, Steve left the Stockade and Bucky was alone again.

He didn't eat, he didn't want to.

Anduin had just dismissed every representative of each allied race and was getting ready to spend a few precious hours with Kragna. After Thrall found out the orc was there, he sent a letter through the Lady Proudmoore, who looked wildly annoyed and demanded to know why Anduin had the orc in Stormwind, then proceeded to yell at him after Anduin confessed the situation. 

He was thinking about the implications this would have. How people would take it. There was nothing wrong with a king choosing a Prince Consort instead of a queen. Tyrande said there were means to procure an heir for him if he decided to have a groom instead of a bride, but he wasn't entirely sure he could actually choose an orc as his Consort. No doubt a few people would have a few choice words to say about that. Genn Greymane would have a fit. Anduin smiled to himself, when did the old wolf  _ not _ have a fit? 

He’d been thinking about getting rid of that silly law that said that having intimacy with Horde races was considered akin to bestiality anyway, it was a stupid law and should have never existed to begin with. Kragna was no beast and neither were any of the other races of the Horde. Just because these people were different, didn’t automatically make them beasts.

His father would not be happy, but his father was no longer here to lecture him about it. And he knew a thing or two about his father that would make him keep his opinion to himself were he still alive.

"You know, I never knew you had it in you, Your Majesty." Someone called in the shadows, and Anduin almost chokes on his drink.

There, in a corner of his bedroom, stood Valeera Sanguinar. Anduin coughed and let out a long sigh.

"Light, Valeera, you almost give me a heart attack!"

"I like to keep you on your toes, Your Majesty." The blood elf smirked and stepped into the room, dimly lit by a fire. "I was asked to investigate something but I wanted to come to you about it first."

"Asked to investigate what?"

"The one armed orc you have in the Stockade. Paladin Rogers asked me to look up his life. He wanted to know if it was true that he isn't very useful to the Horde."

"And?"

"And the boy is not lying, in fact he's not useful at all, no one but his mother has noted his absence, he's just another citizen of Orgrimmar and he's not even important to the Horde."

Anduin frowned, he thought everyone was important to the Horde or worth  _ something _ .

"Why?"

"Because he's missing an arm. I've seen it before, a child missing a limb? Usually thrown to the wild so the beasts will have them for lunch. Even the elves will do that sometimes." Valeera shrugged like it was nothing.

Anduin felt bad for the orc, treated as a pariah because of something he had no control over. The High King sighed.

"Thank you, Valeera. Do you think you could do me one last favor for today?"

"Anything that will get me out of having to watch you with your little toy." She grinned. "Your father would actually be a little amused at this. I  _ know things _ from his time as a gladiator that would make a sailor blush. One day I shall tell you."

"I'm not sure I want to know, maybe I already do. I need you to send a message for me, to New Tinkertown."

  
  


Bucky had a weird dream again.

This time, however, it was different. 

He was floating, there were small fish swimming around him, and he looked around but all he could see was the darkness of the deep ocean. A large fish with red eyes swam close to him, surrounding his floating body.

_ Where am I? _ He thought, he kept looking around but couldn't find anything else besides the darkness and the fish. Something moved through the water, but he couldn't see it.

_ I see you, child.  _ A voice called through the water, it rippled around him and filled his skin with chills.  _ I have seen you for quite some time. _

"Who's there?"

_ You do not need to fear, child. _ The voice said gently, deep and all around Bucky, like the voice was the sea itself. Bucky figured it was a dream. Sam was nowhere to be seen and he could breathe and speak in the water.  _ I see where you are and I see what you have done. I see how others perceive you. I see that they think you inferior. Even that human that keeps you prisoner sees you as inferior. _

What was this voice? Something moved through the water but Bucky could not see it. Like a creature that swam too quickly to be seen. Bucky couldn't swim well, he just had one arm. But he floated perfectly in this deep dark ocean.

"Who  _ are _ you?"

_ You may call me Hydra for now. It is the closest thing to how I could be described, child.  _ The voice seemed patient, like a father speaking to a small babe. Bucky felt vulnerable around it, exposed.  _ I must warn you, child. I have been observing you and your kind. I have seen their potential for survival, and yours. Serve me, and you shall live to see the future of this world. _

"Serve you? I… I don't even _ know _ who you are!"

_ You will know soon, child. You will be a great asset if you serve me, your kind will be great assets as well if they serve me. _

Bucky could hear something in the distance. A screech. Sam! He had to find Sam, he had to get out of this dream. Shaking his limbs, he tried as best as he could to swim up, a feat made difficult by his one arm.

_ Come back, child. _ The voice said, not quite angry, but not as gentle as before.  _ You cannot escape me! You will be my soldier. The proceedings have already began! _

Bucky could hear a voice besides Sam's screeching, someone calling him in the distance, it sounded muffled because of the water, but Bucky tried to reach the surface, to reach the voice that called him and reach Sam. He felt something swimming close to him, something that tried to reach him.

_ Foolish child! You cannot escape me! _ The voice resounded in the water, and large tentacles slowly reached Bucky, trying to grab his legs. He looked down for a moment, and several red eyes seemed to glare at him.  _ I have your Warchief, and I will have you and all of yours as well! _

Terrified at this, he tried to swim faster, the tentacles were moving closer, trying to reach him, and he saw it.

Light.

He extended his only arm trying to reach the surface and noticed that the tentacles shriveled and recoiled back to darkness as soon as the light touched them. Bucky woke with a start, sitting up and almost knocking heads with Paladin Rogers.

"Light, are you alright?" Steven was inside his cell, Sam flying in circles over them both. Bucky was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, looking wildly around. "Buck."

"Where is it?" 

"Where's what?"

"The Hydra…"

"Hydra? Is that why you were thrashing in your sleep?" 

Bucky looked at Steve for a long moment, still trying to catch his breath, was the Paladin the light he'd been looking at when swimming to the surface? Was Steve's voice the one he heard trying to escape the beast?

"It was this beast… it had eyes… so many eyes…"

"Eyes?" Steve frowned. What was the orc even talking about?

"So many eyes… big and red… they looked at me like they could look into my mind, like they could see right through me."

"Maybe you should go back to sleep-"

"No! No I can't sleep again, it'll find me!"

"Buck, it was a dream, whatever it was. Dreams can't hurt you!"

"You don't understand!" Bucky deflated, all adrenaline from the dream gone. "It will find me… it knows…"

"Go back to sleep, Buck." Steve pushed him gently back to the cot where he'd been sleeping, Bucky fought back weakly, but soon was asleep again. It was restless, but at least he slept. The dragonhawk chirped gently, and Steve looked at the creature. It was worried. "Your master is alright, he will be fine."

But would he really be fine? Was Steve maybe lying to the flying reptile to, by extension, lie to himself? Convince himself that Buck was fine and would be fine, maybe?

He left the stockade when he was sure Buck would not wake again.

He had to speak to the King about this.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is free and Tony makes an appearance!

Every time Bucky tried to sleep, he'd remember the big red eyes of the Hydra. He'd remember the black tendrils trying to take him, to pull him back into the depths of the dark ocean and imprison him there. Bucky was terrified.

He didn't know what the dreams meant, but he couldn't convince anyone that the dreams meant anything. He was a simple hunter, not a shaman or a priest. No one would believe the dreams meant anything.

Someone would always bring him food but he also didn't eat much, most of his food was eaten by Sam, who chirped and flew around him worriedly. Steven sometimes came down and asked him things, but Bucky had no energy to answer his questions.

The Paladin was starting to worry. He decided to speak to the king about this.

Anduin was speaking to Valeera when Steve found him. They spoke in hushed tones and the elf gave the king a letter, that Anduin quickly pocketed. Steve waited by the door until Valeera retreated to the shadows and disappeared from the room quietly. The king looked concerned, but it didn’t seem like it was because of what Valeera had told him. Steve hadn’t been close enough to know what they spoke of.

“We have a little problem, Your Majesty.”

“What is it?” 

“The hunter in the Stockade? He’s not eating. He gives all his food to his pet, and he’s also not sleeping, the last time he slept he had a nightmare I had to wake him up from. He kept talking about a Hydra, a creature with many red eyes.”

Anduin was staring at some letters and then turned to look at Steve, he seemed confused but also, like he knew something Steve didn’t. He stood and left the room, Steve frowned and followed him. 

“Where are you going?”

“To the Stockade, I need to speak to this hunter of yours.”

“He’s not-” Steve sighed, at this point it made little sense to clarify something like this. 

“I already had plans to go down there and meet this hunter.” Anduin said as he walked, at some point he had started limping, the cold air hitting him and making his injuries from the Divine Bell so many years ago complain, he had to hold on to a nearby wall. “Light damn it!”

“Your Majesty, let me help you.” Steve made to take Anduin’s arm, but the king slapped his hands away. “Anduin!”

“I’m not an invalid, Rogers, I can do it.”

“For once accept someone’s help.”

Anduin sighed, pushed Steve away again and kept walking, this time slower, still limping. By the time they reached the Stockade, Steve had decided he didn’t care if Anduin complained, he would help him get there. When they were finally outside Bucky’s cell, Steve ordered a chair for the king, and another guard was sent to fetch his cane. 

Buck was curled on his cot and sat up as soon as he heard noise. Sam chirped and flew in circles around Bucky, pulling on his chain. Anduin grimaced.

“For the love of the Light, release that poor animal.” He ordered, and Steve quickly took the keys to enter the cell and remove the chain from Sam’s neck. The dragonhawk chirruped and flew up, down and around the cell. Bucky looked surprised. “You must be the orc hunter, Kragna brought you here with him, yes?”

“Yes.”

“I am king Anduin of Stormwind.” Anduin’s entire demeanor and posture changed as soon as he began speaking to Bucky. It probably had to do with the fact that he was finally siting now and his knees and his hip were not screaming at him. “Steve tells me you haven’t been sleeping, or eating, and that you’ve had an interesting nightmare. Something about a hydra?”

“That’s what it called itself, yes.” Bucky frowned. Anduin looked interested.

“Can you describe it to me as best as you can?”

Bucky told him what he could remember. The tentacles and the many red eyes, and that as soon as Bucky got close to the light, the creature shriveled and receded back to the darkness of the ocean. Anduin considered this for a long while.

“It said… it said I could not escape it, that the proceedings had already began, and that he had the Warchief and would soon have me and mine too.”

Anduin nodded with a frown, then sat there in silence, looking at Bucky, for several minutes. Buck had to look away. The clear blue gaze was starting to make him uncomfortable. After a moment, Anduin turned to Steve.

“Release him. Have him sent to one of the guest rooms.”

“What?” Both Steve and Bucky said at the same time.

“You’ll need to rest on a real bed, and we are going to meet with someone tomorrow. I have a gift for you. I was going to wait a while, but it seems this cannot wait.” Anduin took his cane and got up with a groan. His knees protested yet again. “Do as I say, Steven.”

“But-” Steve began, and the king turned to him with a glare Steve had only ever seen once before.

“Is there a Contradict Anduin Day I was not aware of? Let him go and have a guest room in the keep ready for him. And by the Light, have him take a bath!”

As soon as the king was out of sight, Bucky lowered his head slightly to try and smell himself. It  _ had _ been several days, after all. Steve made a face as he opened the door to his cell and removed Bucky’s chains. Two guards were ready to stop him in case he did anything stupid. But he was sure Steve alone could take him on a fight. They were both almost the same height, with Bucky being slightly taller.

“Don’t try anything stupid.” Steve said. Bucky shrugged. He wasn’t planning on it.

“From what I can see, the king thinks you have all the stupid with you.” Bucky grinned and Steve shot him a glare. Oh, messing with the paladin was  _ fun _ !

Sleeping on a real bed was a blessing, and Sam was delighted to have more space to fly around. The dragonhawk chirruped happily as he flew about from one side of the room to the other, knocking down a few trinkets that Bucky quickly put back in their place.

Had the king taken interest in him? Kragna had said something about that, and Steve spoke about Kragna being the king’s plaything. Did the king have some sort of preference for orcs? Bucky didn’t think the king was ugly, he was actually decent looking, could probably pass as a female orc with enough work done, but Bucky didn’t think he was his type. And why was he asking about his dreams? 

Twice already, the dream had manifested itself, the same creature had told him in whispers that the boy king would offer him things, that they would be lies and that he should not accept them. But he was inclined to not believe the whispers of this horrible creature. If it was true what they said the Warchief had been doing, and it was true that this creature  _ had _ the Warchief (whatever that meant), then there was no way it could be a good creature.

He hugged the impossibly fluffy pillow and hoped for a normal night of sleep. The king said they were going somewhere tomorrow, and he was interested.

  
  


In the morning, a maid came and woke Bucky by rudely opening the curtains and making the sunlight fall on his whole body. Sam chirped irritated and promptly hid under the covers, Bucky was jealous of him. 

The maid left and Steven Rogers walked in, he wore a different armor today, but the color combination of blues and reds, mingled with the silver of the armor, remained. Steve looked unimpressed with Bucky’s state of undress and how he stretched like a cat in this oh so comfortable bed. 

“Sleep well?”

“Better than in that cell, that’s for sure.”

“If these dreams of yours were lies to make the king set you free, I swear…”

“They’re not lies! But… What they say of the Lady Sylvanas… Is it true?”

“She burned the home of the night elves. Countless innocents were there. Children, civilians, some escaped to Stormwind, but others… Others were not that lucky.”

Bucky made a horrified face. He knew both factions had killed people from both sides, time and time again, they had been at war with each other, but only warriors died, not innocents, not children, not people who could not defend themselves. 

There was no honor in that.

“Get up and get dressed. We’re going out today.”

“Out? Where?” 

“Beats me, the king wants to take you somewhere and wants me to come with. I don’t know about his interest in you. At least you look smarter than Kragna.”

Bucky dressed and followed Steve outside. Sam chirped and seemed delighted to fly around in the gardens. Bucky made to stop the flying reptile but let Sam be, he needed to stretch his wings and see some nature. Anduin stood outside a carriage, his cane in one hand. Kragna held his other hand like it was the most delicate flower. Bucky rolled his eyes.

“What are  _ you _ doing here?”

“I’m going with you but I’m waiting in the carriage like a good boy.” Kragna said, Anduin smiled at that comment.

“You’ll understand that people may not be ready to accept you as my future consort, we need to get this business with the banshee queen done with first. We’ll think about everything else later.”

Steve looked concerned. Anduin seemed absolutely serious about Kragna staying in Stormwind, and now it seemed he was bestowing gifts upon Buck as well. Steve didn’t understand what was going on, he asked if he could speak to Anduin, and the king smiled beatifically at the two orcs, asking them to please get in the carriage and wait for them.

“What worries you, Steven?”

“What are you doing? Fooling around with Kragna is one thing, but making him believe he’s going to be your consort? Giving Buck things? What are you even going to give him?”

“First of all, I know what I’m doing. Having Kragna as my consort can make relationships with the Horde much better once Sylvanas is out as Warchief. Second of all, what I’m giving the other orc is actually something useful. I sent a letter to Mekkatorque and asked him about prosthetics, he referred me to one Tony Spark here in Stormwind, that’s where we are going today.”

“Oh I  _ know _ Tony.” Steve made a face. “But why? You seemed awful concerned by what he said about the Hydra.”

“I can’t really tell you what is going on right now, but all things will be known in due time. Just know that the Light works in our favor.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Steve got in the carriage with them, and as Kragna promised, he sat inside and didn’t move. Anduin walked using his cane into and alley, at the end there was what looked like a workshop, but it didn’t look like anyone actually worked there. The few people nearby looked at Bucky suspiciously, and he felt strange not having Sam by his side to defend him, but Sam was an animal and deserved to be in nature for a while. And it wasn’t like the king was going to let anyone harm him, right?

The workshop was a mess, as most workshops are. Anduin looked around in childlike fascination. Bucky had seen a similar place before. An ugly little goblin called Zola lived in Orgrimmar and made all kinds of things that usually blew up after a while. He didn't tell the humans this. Steve seemed used to this place.

There was a small sized armor of sorts hanging from the ceiling with cables, though it was only the chest plate and a helmet, it had an empty circle in the center of the chest plate. Bucky looked at it curiously. There were a few tables with tools here and there, a bottle on one of them had fallen and was dripping small drops of oil. Bucky noticed Steven placed the bottle up so it wouldn't keep dripping.

"Tony? Are you here?" Called Steve, but the workshop seemed empty save for a small claw-like robot that approached Bucky with a gentle chirp that reminded the hunter of Sam’s curious chirping.

"Maybe he's not home?" The King ventured. His guards moved uneasily in the entrance of the workshop. 

Something blew up to their left, making Anduin shriek. Buck turned around, ready to send Sam to attack whatever that was, then he remembered Sam was not there and in the time it took to summon him, they’d probably be hurt. Steve took out his sword. 

"Don't panic! Nothing's wrong! Just science!" Called someone from under some pieces of metal. The claw robot ran around, screeching in panic. "Dammit Dummy! Where's the water bucket I told you to have at the ready?" 

"Are you on  _ fire _ Tony?" Steve asked, like he couldn't believe what was happening.

A small black haired gnome crawled out from under the scraps of metal. Some of his hair was burned and his face was blackened from the explosion.

"What is going on?" Bucky asked.

"This is Tony Spark, he's a great inventor." Steve said as he tried to pat the fire off the gnome's hair. "Or so they say."

"Mekkatorque  _ did _ warn me about his… explosive personality." Anduin grimaced, Bucky looked at the King, unimpressed. Anduin shrugged. "I thought he meant he was just grumpy." 

"Steven, old dog!" Tony made a hand gesture so Steve would come closer. The gnome wrapped him in his little arms. "What brings you to my humble workshop?"

"His Majesty has need of your skills."

"The King?" Tony looked away from Steve to look at Bucky and Anduin. He winked at the king. "What do you need from me, your beautiful Highness?"

Anduin tried hard not to laugh. 

"First of all, I need you to not blow up the city with… whatever it is you're making."

"It's magical armor, your Majesty! If I can figure out the magic behind it, it can be either sentient or used by a champion. If sentient, it could provide us with much needed cannon fodder!"

"I'd feel terrible for the armor, if I'm honest. Is there a need for all these explosions, though?"

"Ah, you have to break some eggs to make an omelette, your handsomeness!" Tony took a stool from under a table, wiped off some oil from it and offered it to Anduin.

The King made a face.

"I'd rather stand, my back isn't what it used to be."

"What a mood, your prettiness. Anyway! What can someone as  _ delightful _ as the King be needing from little old me?"

Bucky rolled his eyes. Steve looked equally unamused. 

"As you can see, our friend here is in need of assistance." Anduin pointed at Bucky, who again rolled his eyes. That’s what this was about? He didn't  _ need _ another arm, he'd lived perfectly fine his whole life without one.

"I see!" Tony walked around the orc, looking at him curiously. "Jarvis, do you see this?"

A small robot roughly Tony's size that sat in one of the tables sprung to life. His single eye shot a laser around Bucky's body, up and down, several times.

"Certainly, sir. It appears this creature is an orc. Orcs are a shamanistic race native originally to Draenor, now known as Outland."

"From what he tells us, Buck was born without the left arm, do you think you could make him one?" The King asked carefully. Tony clapped his hands.

"You've come to the right place, your cuteness! Of course I can, however, I don't know if I am qualified to give the arm the magic it would need to move, it'd just be a useless piece of metal if it doesn't move and slow our brown tusky friend down."

"We don't want that, but we'll figure that out by our own selves, don't you worry." Anduin replied. Bucky felt like one of those pets the voodoo trolls used for their magic experimenting. 

"How  _ did _ you procure the orc, your gorgeousness?" Tony asked, as he pushed Bucky closer to the robot, that looked up and down his body. 

"I didn't  _ procure _ him, he's not an antique." Anduin chastised. "He accidentally jumped into a portal to Stormwind in Dalaran."

“Happens to the best of us.” Tony said. “It’ll take a while, but Jarvis already has a model of his right arm so we can get to work on something. I’m sure I have something around here we can also use as a model. I’ll figure it out and you can come by in a few days, or I can go to you.”

“We will meet with the Horde in two weeks, will it be ready by then?” Anduin asked.

“It will be ready before that, you can find your mage to help you then.”

“I will, and tell her to come to you.”

Steve was sure he knew exactly what mage Anduin would send to the workshop.

  
  


“Absolutely not” Jaina Proudmoore said, walking past Anduin and focusing on some scrolls just to not look at the king. “I don’t know what you are planning in that little brain of yours but I will have no part in it.”

“ _ Please _ Aunt Jaina!” Anduin whined. “It’s important, and it’s just one tiny little spell!”

“Anduin,  _ no _ , whatever you are planning, we don’t have time to be playing around right now.”

“This isn’t playing around, I might have found something on Sylvanas, or rather, found someone who knows something.”

Jaina turned around, frowning. Anduin had never really noticed how tired she always looked, like she needed to sleep desperately but couldn’t find the time to do so. She came close to him and made him sit down.

“Tell me everything.”


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get serious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is significantly shorter and I don't know why

Meeting with the Alliance had been Saurfang’s idea. Apparently, they had intel on Sylvanas Windrunner that could not wait any longer. It was a shame he could not get a few more people to stand up against Sylvanas in such short notice, but these warriors were enough. Anduin had asked him to bring Ceduk Wolfbrother to their meeting, and apparently Thrall had to be there as well, the king only said he had something to tell them and it concerned Wolfbrother. 

Ceduk was not impressed when the High King of the Alliance showed up with Valeera Sanguinar, Jaina Proudmoore, a few guards, a gnome carrying a box and two orcs, one of them being his younger brother.

“Switched sides, didn’t you, Kragna?” Ceduk spat, his brother shrugged.

“I call it advancing in life, big brother.”

“By whoring yourself to humans?” Ceduk’s voice grew louder, Saurfang put a hand on the young orc’s chest to stop him. This was not the time.

“I’m sure Kragna Wolfbrother knows what he’s doing.”

“He’s no Wolfbrother! He’s a human’s whore now!” Ceduk took a step forward, intending to attack Anduin. Steve took out his sword immediately.

“Ceduk that is enough!” Saurfang stood between Ceduk and the human king, growling. The younger orc took a step back. “We will speak, and you will listen.” Ceduk looked down like a child being scolded. Nobody else said anything for a beat, then Anduin began.

“There’s more important things to speak of right now than what Kragna is or isn’t at the moment. We’ll get to that later. For now I need you to listen to what Buck has to say.”

The King stood aside and motioned for Bucky to speak. The orc looked at the High Overlord nervously, then at the former Warchief, Thrall smiled at him encouragingly.

“I remember you.” He said. “You were a boy then, the elements told me you were meant for something important.”

Bucky guessed this was important. No one would tell him anything really, but he knew it had to be for them to gather in secret here like this.

So he told them of his dreams, of the constant threats of the Hydra, the creature with many limbs that told him strange secrets about himself. What they were, he didn’t say, but he told them what they wanted to know. Whatever this creature was, it had the Warchief. Sylvanas Windrunner served this creature. This was dangerous for the Horde.

“It just called itself Hydra?” Thrall asked carefully.

“Yes, it said it was the closest thing to it’s name that I could say. It said I would make a fine asset, and so would everyone else of my kind. He said… He said that it had already began and that he already had the Warchief and soon he would have us all.”

Ceduk Wolfbrother made a face. Kragna did the same, he had not known of these dreams Buck was having.

“It could be anything!” A young troll behind Saurfang said, throwing his hands up in the air. Anduin smiled.

“But at least we know what to expect, Sylvanas Windrunner is serving a sinister being if what Buck says is true. We must be careful.”

“You said there was more than one thing.” Saurfang growled, the king shifted uncomfortably for a moment.

“I need to know, if we end her reign, what kind of Warchief will you be?” 

There was worry in Anduin’s tone, Bucky noticed. Kragna stood nervously next to him, eyeing both Saurfang and the king. As Saurfang spoke of what kind of Horde he had joined in the past, and his hope for the future, Kragna became less tense. It was something, for Saurfang to want the Horde to be different, to  _ work _ differently.

“The kind of Warchief I will be also depends on the kind of king  _ you _ will be.” Saurfang said finally. “I know you have no obligation to do anything for the Horde, because it is not your faction, but peace is a fragile thing, there will be some that will want to break it.”

Anduin sighed after a while, then turned to Ceduk Wolfbrother.

“That is precisely the other thing. Your brother has done nothing wrong.” He began. “Kragna is noble and good, and has been good and gentle to me in the time we’ve been together, unlike anyone else, he wants to be with me because of who I am as a person, not because of  _ what _ I am. I want him to stay by my side and become my consort.”

“What’s that got to do with me?” Ceduk replied petulantly, glaring at his younger brother.

“I am asking for your permission because you are his older brother. And for your blessing, I guess.” Anduin shrugged.

“He doesn’t need my permission, he is a grown orc. As for my blessing, I don’t think it matters.”

“It does, Kragna has said he values your opinion over anyone else’s, despite the fact that you don’t see him as an equal because he’s younger. He admires you, your blessing would mean much to him even if he doesn’t say.”

Ceduk looked at the human king for a long moment. Bucky noticed Kragna was tense again. The older Wolfbrother scoffed.

“You can have it but it won’t make him a better prospect for you.”

“I don’t need him to be any better than he already is.” Anduin smiled and turned to Saurfang. “When you become Warchief, will this be good enough for you, so we can have peace?”

“A political marriage.” The old orc’s face twisted into what seemed like a smirk. “You are smarter than you look, boy king.”

Anduin’s sweet smile turned into a smirk. Bucky understood what Steve meant when he said the king was a menace. He knew perfectly well what he was doing. Not only did he take Kragna as a lover because he liked him, he took the orc as a lover because it was convenient, because he could eventually become his consort, and he wasn’t just any simple orc. He was blood related to Thrall, though a bit distantly, he was  _ important _ in a way, and Anduin would not settle for someone who was not important.

“One last thing.” The king said, motioning for the gnome to come closer with his big and bulky box. “Buck here told me that he wasn’t too important because of his lack of an arm. I had something made for him, of course I hope none of you mind.”

Tony took a few steps forward, holding his box, then placed it carefully, almost reverently, on the floor. He unlocked the box and opened it for everyone to see. Inside was a shiny metallic arm, similar in design to the ones seen in plate armor, but it have many small plates that seemed to come together over chainmail, the mail between the plates of the arm shone with what seemed to be magic. The Lady Proudmoore looked slightly like she was puffing her chest in pride. The Horde members looked at the arm in wonder, as the gnome took it out of the box and offered it to Bucky. There was a star made of apparent arcane magic engraved in the bicep, it seemed to be the core of the arm’s magic.

“The magic in the arm will make it move the same way your right arm moves. Your mind will do all the work as soon as it is put in place.” Jaina said, taking the arm along with Tony and helping him to place it on the stump that was where Bucky’s arm should have been. “It will sintonize to you as soon as you wear it.”

The arm was placed carefully with a strap across Bucky’s chest. He felt the magic go through his whole body, could actually  _ feel _ the arm attached to his body, like it had always been there, like he had always had it.

Former Warchief Thrall made a face, so did the young troll behind Overlord Saurfang, he turned to Thrall with a frown.

“When ya first saw dis hunter, ya say da elements told ya he was not meant to be a shaman?”

“They didn’t react to him the way they would do with a shaman.” Thrall shrugged. “Do you remember your first contact with the elements?”

“Dey were uneasy, yes, like naughty children. I liked to play with dem as a child.”

“What do you see now?”

“When dey put da arm on him, da elements… dey be erratic.”

“Ah, so you noticed.”

“But not da way dey did with me.”

“Something different then.” They both turned to look at Bucky, who tested the movement of the arm for both Jaina and Tony Spark. Elements seemed drawn to Buck, but not the same way they did with any regular shaman.

Both looked at the orc testing his new arm, as Anduin ordered his men to get ready to leave. Soon they would all fight together. This time there would be no Horde and no Alliance, just races protecting their world against someone hellbent on destroying it.

For Azeroth.


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where I tell canon to fuck off :3

If someone had told Bucky a few months ago that he would do what he had just done, he would have laughed at them.

At the gates of Orgrimmar a variety of things happened all at once. The first was that High Overlord Saurfang challenged the Warchief to a Mak’gora, the second was, that during said Mak’gora, Sylvanas decided to yell at the top of her lungs that the Horde meant nothing to her. The other few happened all in such rapid succession, Bucky was not sure he’d be able to explain them to anyone who asked.

Saurfang went to attack Sylvanas, and when he took a step forward, the Banshee queen made a hand motion that sent Bucky into high alert. He moved without thinking, standing between whatever Sylvanas had thrown and Saurfang, and when he did, Anduin did as well. Bucky heard Kragna call for Anduin but it sounded distant, as something clanged against the metal arm he had been given recently and left a big dark hole on the sand next to Bucky, lifting a cloud of dust and something dark that sent a chill down Bucky’s whole body.

He had been unaffected, and if he was lucky, so had Saurfang. The arm had taken the hit, Sylvanas stood there, unimpressed.

“If you could see yourselves as I see you,” The Banshee queen took a menacing step towards Bucky, glaring at him despite her injured eye. “Toy soldiers in tin plates... Beasts who howl for honor... Standing as one. Savor it... Nothing lasts!”

The cloud of darkness that surrounded her also engulfed Bucky, and for a moment, he felt absolute terror.  _ This is it. _ He thought.  _ This is how I die. Like an idiot trying to fight the Warchief. _

But with a horrendous shriek, Sylvanas Windrunner was gone, nothing happened. Bucky was very much alive. He let out a sigh of relief. He felt hands on him as his body deflated and his legs felt weak. Soon Bucky figured that the arms that held him were Steve’s, as he fell like a big sack of cactus apples in them.

“Buck! Buck are you alright?” Bucky heard him, of course he did, but he couldn’t speak. The only thing he could do was grip Steve’s arms with his hands. Anduin and Kragna were soon near him as well. Bucky could also hear Sam’s distressed chirping around him.

“Foolish boy!” Bucky felt someone punch his arm and Saurfang’s deep voice followed. Good, the old coot was still alive. It was enough to snap him out of it. “What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know what I just did.”

“I didn’t think the arm could deflect something like that!” Anduin took his metal hand and Bucky could clearly feel him squeeze it. “What kind of metal is this?”

“I don’t think even Tony knows what metal it is.” Steve huffed and he and Saurfang helped Bucky up. His legs still felt like noodles. “But that was impressive! How did you even  _ know _ that could happen?”

“I didn’t…” Bucky tried to walk but his entire body shook.

“We ought to take him into the city.” Thrall said, but stopped as soon as they stood in front of Sylvanas’ flag bearer. Thrall stood with unease in front of her. 

Then she moved and the former Warchief took a step back, so did everyone else. She raised her banner and clanked it twice against the floor.

The doors to the city opened for them, as the rest of the banner-men atop the walls surrounding Orgrimmar imitated the flag bearer. She turned and let them through.

It was a sign that they were allowed in, and Zekhan was quick to go in. Steve and Saurfang helped Bucky to walk into the city, and Kragna brought Reverence, Anduin’s horse, so the king could ride him into the city. The orc pulled on the horse, and they entered after everyone else. 

“There is much to talk about, I think.” Anduin told Kragna, and as he entered Orgrimmar for the first time, he extended a hand for Kragna to take. “I am afraid your people will not like me.”

“They will, I don’t think anyone can dislike you.” 

Many eyes were on them, Anduin could feel them, he couldn’t imagine how Steve must feel, helping an orc walk into his own city. Mostly the people seemed curious, and as Anduin rode Reverence into Grommash Hold, he started feeling more at ease. The orcs around them were just wondering who they were.

There was much to talk about, and much to decide. But Bucky had the feeling that they would not be rid of Sylvanas Windrunner just yet, and they  _ still _ hadn’t seen anything of the many limbed creature that called itself Hydra and claimed to own the former Warchief.

Night fell in Orgrimmar and meetings were had between leaders of the many races of the Horde and Anduin and his people. It was obvious a few people had abandoned the city quietly a while ago. No doubt those who were still loyal to the Banshee Queen. Bucky watched a few of them leave from atop Grommash Hold. They weren’t as sneaky as they thought they were.

“Deserters?” A voice asked behind him, Bucky turned and found Steve still wearing his armor and carrying Sam in his arms. The dragonhawk chirruped at his owner and scrambled off the Paladin’s arms to fly and collide with Bucky’s chest. “I didn’t think anyone would still be loyal to her after what she said about the Horde meaning nothing to her.”

“I guess some people just like being treated badly.” Bucky shrugged and pet his dragonhawk gently. The animal chirped contentedly. “I never did thank you, for coming to my aid. I felt I was going to pass out from having that  _ witch _ so close to me. I thought she was going to turn me into one of her undead.”

“Can’t let that happen, now can we?”

“I guess we can’t.”

Bucky turned back to the large expanse of desert that was Orgrimmar, the sun was setting so the sky began to turn a mixture of red and blue. He missed the sunsets in Orgrimmar. He missed his mother and little sisters. He should go and look for them. Maybe tonight he’d sleep in his home again. 

He realized he had been looking at the sky change colors and the stars begin to twinkle with Steve in a comfortable silence and it felt  _ right _ somehow. Maybe he was getting used to the company of humans. The thought was terrifying.

_ Oh, Elements, as long as I don’t become some romantic idiot like Kragna. _ He told himself. The other orc had not left the human king’s side for one second, apparently Anduin thought it was wise for Kragna to learn about these reunions if they were going to be married eventually.

Speaking of the human king, he showed up next to them in the veranda and sat on the floor with a huff. His armor was long gone and he put his cane on the floor next to him.

"I never want to argue with goblins ever again." He said. Bucky made a face.

"Ugly vindictive little things, the lot of them." He said, Anduin made an approving noise. "Never liked them. They're always up to something."

Anduin sighed and looked at the people leaving Orgrimmar as well. He remained silent as Bucky and Steve looked on at the sky. Anduin smiled to himself. If there was something going on there that none of them knew of yet, he wasn't going to be the one to tell them. Let them figure it out by themselves.

"I need several drinks and the company of my mate to get over this meeting, but at least the armistice has been signed."

"Tyrande will not be happy." Steve said. Anduin made a face.

"When is she ever happy? The Horde did what Sylvanas wanted for far too long, I believe they genuinely regret their actions and wish to work with us."

"This has nothing to do with you wanting to marry Kragna, right?" Steve raised a brow and smirked. Anduin stood using his cane for support.

"Don't be ridiculous, Steven, I also want Azeroth to have the peace it so desperately needs." Anduin sighed. "We're also not innocent. I am dreading the meeting with the queen of the Zandalari trolls, Zekhan tells me she's not a big fan of humans, particularly Kul Tirans."

"Better hide Jaina." Steve chuckled as Anduin shuffled back inside, no doubt to fall on his future mate's arms.

They had peace, for now, but Steve felt it wasn't going to last. It didn't matter, for now he could sit and look at the sky in Orgrimmar change colors and the stars start to blink lazily in the dark mantle of the night. Sam slept with his head on Steve's thigh, purring softly.

It was peaceful.


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things take a turn

Anduin sat in front of Queen Talanji of the Zandalari trolls as she stared back with a raised brow. Steve looked worriedly on, the troll queen seemed calm under her bulky crown with feathers but Steve suspected she would climb the table at any given moment and try to strangle Anduin. It was good luck that Genn was on his other side in wolf form, growling very softly.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Queen Talanji." Anduin began. "I hear Zandalar is quite a beautiful kingdom, I would very much like to see it one day."

"You should have said that before those illiterate savages with rotten teeth you call your allies from Kul Tiras came and destroyed everything, pawed at our sacred artifacts and killed my father."

"I offer my sincerest apologies for that, Queen Talanji, and I am very sure the night elves think the same way of what Sylvanas did to Teldrassil."

"I do not associate with that  _ witch _ and would very much like to see her gone. But the Zandalari trolls were not even part of the Horde when my father was murdered and my kingdom attacked by your mage."

"I promise you, as soon as Sylvanas is dealt with, we will speak of retribution."

"No retribution will give me back my father, King Anduin, and I doubt you will want to hand your mage to us to judge for her crimes against us."

"The only one to blame for all of our problems is Sylvanas. When she is dealt with, we will all have peace, I hope."

"You are welcome in Zandalar, but the mage  _ will _ be attacked on site."

"I'll allow it, I guess." Anduin shrugged, it wasn't like Jaina had any desire to go to Zandalar anyway. "Can we get to talking about how you could assist us against Sylvanas? We've already heard she plans to attack Thunder Bluff in retaliation for Baine's betrayal, could you provide aid for the Tauren in case it happens?"

"The problem is that you think of your strategies as yourself. If you wish to beat her, you must think like her. I can provide aid in case of an attack, but Sylvanas has no business in Thunder Bluff, it is not important to her."

"Why should we even believe a word you are saying?" Genn snapped, apparently tired of this small talk. "How do we know  _ you _ are not on her side and will go and tell her what we've spoken of? How can we trust you when you broke out of Alliance prisons?"

"That is true, but I didn't break out, I was assisted to escape. Had no one helped me I would have stayed there. Had your allies not attacked my people, we would have remained neutral. A lot of things are not as they should be, but a thing I know for certain, the Loa are distressed, Sylvanas Windrunner's very existence is a transgression to them. If the Loa want her gone, I will make it happen."

“Fair enough, I suppose.” Anduin shrugged, Genn still growled a little but Anduin turned to give him a warning gaze. "I realize the Kul Tiran fleet took some things that belonged to your people, they will be returned, you have my word. Anything that has cultural significance shouldn't be touched."

Talanji rose, one of her handmaidens guided her gently out of the room. Anduin stood and saw her out, when she was gone, Genn argued that they couldn't trust her, or anyone else in the Horde for that matter. 

Steve was inclined to disagree. He had been given no reason to distrust Bucky at least, and Overlord Saurfang was an honorable person, he wanted to make things right, wanted the armistice to work out for everyone involved. Steve was sure the new deals with the Horde would be beneficial for everyone in Azeroth.

Steve frowned, where was Bucky anyway? Genn left to supervise his people, Steve and Anduin were left alone, Orgrimmar was a big place, Steve wondered if he'd get to see Bucky before heading back to Stormwind. His frown intensified, why was he thinking this?

They found Bucky in Grommash Hold, Tony was checking on his arm, while two little orc girls chased Sam around, trying to catch him. Bucky looked fondly at the girls and his gaze made Steve's heart do something strange. What was going on? Steve didn't know. 

The flag bearing Forsaken stood in the entrance of the Hold, her face still covered, only her eyes were visible. She looked at Steve and Anduin with a little distrust, Overlord Saurfang and Thrall spoke in hushed tones, they seemed concerned.

"What is going on?" Anduin asked, approaching them.

"We believe Sylvanas may actually have no interest in Thunder Bluff." Saurfang said.

"Queen Talanji said the same thing." 

"I could have told you that." Bucky said from his place on a stool, as Tony made sure the arm had suffered no damage. "There's nothing to gain from attacking a place where there's nothing she would want. She already made a point to the Horde."

Sam perched on Bucky's head and chirped gently. Tony sighed in relief. There seemed to be nothing wrong with the arm. 

"Lor'themar Theron said he'd never seen magic like what Sylvanas used before. Could there be some kind of power she's hiding from us and planning to use against us?" Anduin asked. 

"Well," the flag bearer interrupted, removing her face cover and her hood, revealing the pale skin of a blood elf and fiery red hair, "there is a dagger Nathanos brought to the Dark Lady a while back. He offered it to her, said it would give her incredible power, said they would get what they wanted with it."

"Did he say what kind of blade this was?" Anduin asked carefully. 

"He said he had heard whispers of a blade that instilled fear in the Zandalari trolls, but wouldn't give a name."

This didn’t sound right. Did the blade have anything to do with the hydra from Bucky’s dreams? Steve glanced at the orc and noticed his deep blue gaze trained on him as well. They were apparently thinking the same thing. They would have to investigate further about this.

The flag bearer, Natalee Widowbite told them as much as she could of what she’d heard. This blade was no ordinary object, and Bucky didn’t doubt it had something to do with the Hydra.

Their discussion was cut short when a young human, another paladin like Steve came running to the Hold.

“Your Majesty!” He hollered as he ran to find Anduin, he stopped a few feet away from the king to catch his breath. “The Banshee Queen has attacked Stormwind!”

Steve turned to Anduin, who looked quite pale as he held onto Kragna’s arm. Steve predicted this. This calm would not last.

There was so much destruction, but Anduin could not stand there and dwell on it or even concern himself with it at the moment. Rescuing everyone was a priority. Portals had been opened by the most skilled mages. Lor’themar had suggested they take the Night Elves that had survived the burning of Teldrassil into Silvermoon, and though Tyrande Whisperwind had refused to go there, the Night Elves seemed to know they had no other option. 

At first humans were scared, as they tried to run away they were met with portals to an unknown place, some of them were greeted by orcs and refused to go through the portals at first, and some understood that this was probably the only way they could be saved. People walked through the portals into Orgrimmar, some were hurt and were taken to be seen by shamans and healers immediately, and some others were confused. No one knew what was happening, suddenly, Stormwind had been covered in darkness, a few people actually got to see Sylvanas hovering over the keep.

A child fell on the dirt floor of Orgrimmar, got up in confusion and looked around, his mother was nowhere to be seen. He called her name loudly, but with all the screams and the people it was muffled. He was small and remembered his mother’s words a long time ago:  _ If you cannot find me, go to a corner and stay there, I will find you.  _ He was about to do just that when he collided with something very hard and very green.

A big orc was looking down at him, he was big and scary and the boy tried to make himself as small as possible. People rushed past the orc but he seemed unmovable, then he knelt in front of the boy.

“You lost, little cub?” The orc asked in common, the boy sniffled and nodded. The orc offered his big hand for the little boy to take, and picked him up effortlessly like he was some sort of little monkey, depositing the boy on his big shoulders. “Tell me if you see your mother, little cub.”

The boy found his mother soon enough, and Thrall was thanked profusely by the mother. Soon no more humans walked through the portal. Lor’themar told them the Night Elves were safe in Silvermoon, though a little crowded, some of them would be settled in Fairbreeze village, maybe, but they would manage. 

Now Anduin dreaded the next step. They had to gather hunters to find injured people, or people trapped under collapsed houses or buildings. Now that he had another arm, Zekhan thought it was a good idea to teach Bucky some shamanic things, but it didn’t seem like he had it in him. The only creature he could heal was Sam, and Sam didn’t need healing at the moment. 

Zekhan gave up, with a dismissive hand wave, he let Bucky leave and join the hunters in search of wounded and trapped humans in Stormwind.

There was destruction. So much destruction. Anduin had never seen anything like it before. He turned to look at Genn, the old wolf was also looking at the destruction with a pained expression. This was his home as much as Gilneas had been, now there were homes in ruins and collapsed buildings. An orc petted his wolf with a sigh and marched forward. There is much to do, he said, and very little time to do it. 

Steve looked up at the sky. There were dark clouds and no sign of the sun, but these clouds were different, they didn’t look like storm filled clouds.

“The void is in those clouds.” He said, Bucky stood to his right, and Sam perched on the shoulder of his armor and chirped softly. “We must find survivors.”

“Come, dear friend, off to find humans we go.” Bucky extended the metal arm, and Sam screeched and flew over to Bucky, nuzzling him with his beak before taking off. “We will find survivors, Steve, rest assured.”

They parted ways and Steve’s steps took him through a path he knew all too well, a sense of dread filled him as he walked closer and closer to his childhood home. He prayed to the Light,  _ please let them be safe _ , he begged.

When he arrived he froze, and almost falls to his knees. They felt weak.

The house was in ruins. Not a single beam stood. It’s like Sylvanas had been specially cruel with this little house, with his mother’s flowerbeds. There was broken glass, the entry path was covered in splinters and rubble. 

His mother. His father. Both gone.

Steve fell to his knees and screamed, but he heard no noise coming from his own lips. He felt hot tears roll down his cheeks, but he didn’t remember ever starting to cry. He felt cold metal fingers touching his face, but he never heard anyone come near. He heard Sam chirping close to his ear.

“-teve! Steve!” Bucky shook him gently, and Steve finally,  _ finally _ saw Bucky through his tears, he was blurry, but he was there, a strong grip on his arms, a cold hand on his face. “Sam, search! Go!”

Steve heard the reptile bird flap its wings and fly off, no doubt to try and find someone still alive in the house in ruins. Steve knew it was a valiant effort on Bucky’s part, but it made no sense. He knew his family would have not survived their home falling on top of them.

“Steve listen to me.” Steve felt Bucky’s cold hand on his face again. He felt grounded by this cold touch. “I will do my best to find them, but if we don’t find them or if they’re…” 

Bucky made a pause, Steve knew perfectly well what he meant.

“If we don’t find them, you have to stay strong. There’ll be time to mourn them, I promise.”

“That’s what Genn always tells Anduin… Did you know his father died in the Broken Shore, fighting the Legion?” Steve sighed and looked down. For the longest time, Steve felt guilty that his father had survived the battle against the Legion and king Varian hadn’t. “But there’s never time… Never time…”

“Listen Steve, there will be time. We will make time. For you and for Anduin if we have to. Screw the old wolf, just because he’s emotionally constipated doesn’t mean you have to be.”

Sam returned with a sad chirp and a ring in his beak. Steve recognized it as his father’s ring. He took it from the pet's beak and held it reverently in his hands. There was blood in it.

Steve wanted to scream, to cry. But mostly he wanted to kill Sylvanas Windrunner. No one should be this cruel.

Another Mag'har orc, a huntress, approached them, a large grey wolf trotted behind her.

"Iron hand." She addressed Bucky. "We found several survivors. The human king is trying to heal them all but I fear he might hurt himself."

"I have to stop him." Steve stored his father's ring away and stood. 

Bucky was right. There'd be time for mourning later, but today, they had work to do.


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens!

Anduin had exhausted himself and passed out. Kragna had not left his side while he was healing the injured, and caught the king in his arms before he could injure himself. Now he slept as the orc held his hand in his much bigger ones. 

Steve felt guilty. He should have been by the king's side, not screaming to the heavens for his family. There would be time to mourn the fallen and seek vengeance. Thrall himself came to check on the king. Everyone looked exhausted.

Natalee sat next to Bucky with a sigh.

"Humans are delicate." She stated. "Even the ones that aren't supposed to be."

"The king has been through quite a lot, I've been told." Bucky replied.

"And you?" 

“What about me?”

“That arm is not something normal for an orc, I suppose.” Natalee shrugged. “I am just curious. You arrived with the Alliance too, how is an orc accepted within the Alliance?”

“I don’t think I have been accepted.” Bucky shrugged as well. “I think those Alliance humans will bond with  _ anyone _ , mostly the king,  _ especially _ the king.”

Bucky made a face, Natalee smiled but it looked more like a grimace.

“The human king is very strange, but I feel he has good intentions.”

“I believe him. I am worried about this Hydra and the dagger and that power Sylvanas was wielding.”

“The Regent Lord said he’d never seen anything like that power before. But it’s interesting that your arm could counter it.”

Bucky thought about it. The only thing the arm had was the runes that the Lady Proudmoore put in it to make it move. The red star made of runes glowed on his forearm softly. Tony had made sure it was still working properly. He frowned, he didn’t really know for sure what the runes were for, did he?

Anduin woke later that day. He received visits from every leader of the Horde and they agreed that now that Sylvanas was gone from the Horde there were changes that needed to be made.

“I suggest we make a council.” Baine Bloodhoof said gently. “Every leader of every race of the Horde will come together to decide what is best for all of us.”

“It sounds reasonable.” Anduin conceded. “I wonder if we should do the same for the Alliance.”

“Maybe you should decide that when all this is over, young king.” Thrall offered carefully. 

“I agree with the idea of a council.” Talanji said with a nod. “But as far as I know from speaking with the Darkspear tribe, they do not have a chieftain since the death of the noble Vol’jin. Will the Horde help these people choose a new chieftain?”

“Dat be a problem of da Darkspea, not of da Horde.” Vanira replied a little roughly. “I be speakin to Rokhan and we be makin a decision soon.”

Anduin noded. He knew from a human hunter that trolls were not to be messed with. Where this hunter had ran off to, he didn’t know, the last he’d seen of him was right after his father died.

The leaders scattered after this, expressing their desire to know what the Darkspear trolls had decided very soon. Kragna stayed by Anduin’s side, caressing the back of his hand carefully. He looked worried.

“You mustn’t worry about me so much.” Anduin smiled and placed his hand on top of Kragna’s bigger ones. “I tend to overdo things sometimes.”

“Maybe you need me to take care of you from now on. Make sure you don’t heal people until you drop dead.”

“That sounds like a nice idea.” The king chuckled and pressed his forehead to Kragna’s. He’d learned in recent months that this was akin to a kiss for orcs. “I would be happy to be taken care of by you.”

  
  


The Queen Talanji headed to her temporary rooms in the Hold with her two handmaidens. One of them went to take the queen’s crown off and the other moved to the drawers near the bed, in search for another set of clothes.

“Ikchel, give me the Nikte’ha flower dress, please.” Talanji ordered. “It is not here, it should be in my rooms in the ship.”

“Yes my queen.” The maiden left the room and on her way bumped into Zekhan, who noded at her politely. The young zandalari blushed slightly and ran off. Zekhan shrugged and kept walking through the hallway.

“My queen has such pretty hair.” The other maiden commented as she brushed Talanji’s hair. “Such a pity…”

“What is a pity?” The queen asked.

“That my queen has to wear a crown all the time.” The maiden smiled at the queen and continued to brush her dark blue curls. Talanji smiled.

“I will not wear a crown with the Nikte’ha flower dress, my dear. Braid it and bring me the flowers Rokhan sent for us. I would not like them to go to waste.”

“Yes my queen.”

The maiden went to retrieve the flowers while Talanji brushed her own hair. When the queen looked up, she clearly saw the Loa of death, Bwonsamdi, standing behind her, and right next to him, her handmaiden held the flowers in one hand and a dagger in the other.

“Zazil…”

“For the Banshee Queen!” The handmaiden yelled, Talanji closed her eyes. She knew well and good that a visit from Bwonsamdi in a moment like this meant she was going to die.

Only the blow never came. When she opened one eye to look at Zazil, her hand was being held by a Darkspear troll. Talanji knew this one. It was the shaman Zekhan.

“You are very far away from da Banshee Queen… Loyalist.”

Zazil dropped the knife, in that moment, Ikchel returned with the dress, saw the scene and rushed to aid her queen. Talanji turned to where Bwonsamdi was standing, the Loa laughed wickedly.

“Now  _ dat _ be something unexpected.” He said, and vanished again. 

“Ya have betrayed me, Zazil!” Talanji stood with Ikchel’s aid. Zekhan still held the other troll’s hand. “I should have ya killed!”

“Well it be looking like the council will make their first decision with dis one.” Zekhan said. 

“Zazil, why did ya betray da queen, sister?”

“When da Banshee Queen takes ova’ I will ask her ta spare ya sista!” Zazil yelled as Zekhan took her out of the room. Two guards, alerted by her screams, came to the room. Zekhan ordered them to take her before the council and explained the situation. 

Before he could go back into the room, the queen exited and stood before him. She had the dress she had asked the maiden to wear and her hair in a braid atop her head.

“I must thank you for your aid, shaman.”

“It be nothing, Lady Talanji.” 

Soon Bucky, Steve, two other paladins, Natalee and two other guards arrived and Talanji explained the situation. She said she had been planning to speak privately with the king Anduin but now she felt she couldn’t trust any of the people that came with her. Bucky assured her that they’d make sure anyone that came from Zandalar with her was trustworthy. This seemed to appease the queen a bit.

“My queen, I will give my life to prove my loyalty to you.” Ikchel knelt in front of Talanji while taking her hand. The queen turned to Zekhan and Bucky with a smile.

“I know, Ikchel, I trust you.”

“Thank you, my queen! Thank you!”

Anduin listened carefully to Talanji as she retold what had happened in her room. The king squeezed Kragna’s hand, visibly concerned by this.

“So it seems we may have snakes in the grass.”

“The grass always has snakes, especially if it is tall.” Ikchel ventured to comment. Talanji smiled.

“Yes it does, my dear. Will you bring da leaves I procured for da king?”

“Yes, my queen.”

As soon as Ikchel was gone, Talanji sighed in relief. She trusted the girl to be loyal but she was probably  _ too _ loyal.

“She is right, though.” Anduin said, seeming to read her thoughts. “Snakes usually hide where the grass is tallest. We might want to interrogate those closest to the Horde leaders first before anyone else. There may be some Sylvanas loyalists right in front of our noses and we must expose them.”

“I see it now.” Talanji said with a smirk, Ikchel returned with a little cup with a lid. "I brought you dis. They are leaves from a plant that grows in Zandalar. Brew some water with them and drink it, it will re energize you."

"Thank you, queen Talanji."

Their conversation was interrupted when a young paladin came into the room.

"Your Majesty, the Lady Admiral of the Kul Tiran fleet have informed us that the Naga are on the move."

"Where to?"

"Zandalar"


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are near the end

"So this is how it ends?” Bucky looked at the army of ugly sea creatures in the shore. 

The Alliance army was certainly not enough to contain them, but the Kul Tiras fleet was on their way to attack them from behind, the Zandalari were a formidable force, and Saurfang and Geyah’ra, Thrall’s sister, were ready with the orcs to attack the Naga. Rokhan had crossed a portal from the Echo Isles with a group of warriors as well. Lor’themar arrived with a small group, followed by Shandris with some night elves. She commented that Tyrande was caring for Malfurion, who was still trying to recover from his fight with Saurfang. Steve believed she just didn’t want to be there.

“I don’t think this will end soon. Not until Sylvanas is defeated.” Steve commented.

“Do you think these ugly creatures are related to her somehow?” Bucky asked, he’d never seen naga before and now that he did, he didn’t like them. 

“They have more to do with other sinister entities but I wouldn’t put it past Sylvanas to associate with those entities.” Steve explained, then grabbed his sword and his shield. The shield was round and had the same colors as Steve’s armor, with a white star in the center. “Off to fight them we go.”

“Ready, Sam?” Bucky asked his pet, the dragonhawk screeched. In the distance, they could see the small ships from the Kul Tiras fleet. “Time to fight, my friend.”

“I never thought I would ever fight beside an orc.” Steve said, as Anduin raised his sword as he rode Reverence, his white horse. Kragna rode by his side in a great white wolf. 

“But did you think you would fight beside a friend?” Bucky smirked as Sam nuzzled Steve, then perched on Bucky’s shoulder. Steve chuckled.

“I guess, yes.”

The naga charged forward, and both factions’ soldiers marched to face them, slowly at first, then trotting, then Anduin kicked Reverence’s sides to make the horse charge faster, and Kragna did the same to the wolf he rode. The rest, emboldened by this, marched forward faster.

Steve took off on his horse, Bucky almost falls off the wolf he was riding. Just when they were about to be face to face with the naga, something emerged from the water, causing waves to crash against the naga and sending several of them back into the ocean. 

The troops of Horde and Alliance stopped dead in their tracks. Bucky looked in horror as the creature of his nightmares materialized from out of the water.

A giant creature, black as ink, with six red eyes and several tentacles emerged from the ocean. It's head opened to reveal what seemed like a maw with long, sharp teeth. The creature lifted one long tentacle and then dropped it on one of the Kul Tiran ships, breaking it in half. Splinters flew around and screams filled the air around the creature. The naga that looked at this scene cheered.

Bucky could only watch, terrified.

_ I see you, dear boy _ . The voice from his nightmares spoke in his head.  _ Soon you shall all perish _ .

"What is  _ that _ ?" Steve asked. The troops were getting quite nervous.

"Hydra…" Bucky mumbled.

The creature tried to attack the ships that were now around it, shooting at him with their cannons. Mages throwing spells at it. The creature made horrible noises whenever it was hit, but would not fall.

"They'll never beat it like that." Anduin said. "But we must stay firm! March forward! For Azeroth!"

Anduin pointed his sword in the direction of the Naga, and galloped forward, the soldiers of both factions charged behind him.

Weapons collided. The fight has began as the creature in the ocean destroyed ships here and there.

Bucky looked around. There were many wounded, both Naga and from the Azerothian forces. He could hear the whispers of the Hydra in his mind, encouraging him to leave, to escape. But he shook his head and charged forward. Sam screeched by his side.

There was no sign of Steve, but he was sure the paladin was fine. They would meet after the battle.

The Kul Tiran ships slowly backed away from the monster, as a roar filled the air. A few flying creatures could be seen in the distance. Dragons.

"Alextrasza…" Shandris said, as dragon fire rained on the Hydra. 

A black dragon, much smaller than the others, flew through the battlefield, incinerating the Naga. Some screamed and fled back to the water. The black dragon stood proud in front of the Azerothian troops and attacked the Naga that approached with fire.

"Wrathion, you little toad faced clown!" Anduin got off Reverence and threw a rock at the black dragon, who turned and seemed to look at him with very little interest. "You fucked off to Light only knows where and betrayed me and  _ now _ you come back to help? Who do you think you are?"

"There will be time for chatting later, my king, where is the orc with the metal arm?"

"What do you want Bucky for?"

"Alextrasza needs him, not me."

Bucky moved forward, two other small dragons landed near Wrathion and kept the Naga busy. Wrathion regarded him with disinterest.

"I was reserving my back for the king but seeing as he has replaced me with an  _ orc _ of all people--"

"Can't replace what I never wanted in the first place." Anduin said.

"Since the  _ king _ has  _ replaced me _ with an orc!" Wrathion repeated indignantly. "Climb now, champion. The Red Aspect needs you."

Bucky climbed the drake's back, but before they could leave, the orc turned to Steve.

"Don't do anything stupid until I come back, you hear?"

"How can I? You are taking all the stupid with you." Steve raised his shield at Bucky, and the dragon shook his head and took flight. 

The Red Aspect was a red dragon that mercilessly breathed fire onto the horrifying sea creature.

"That creature that presented itself to you as Hydra is called N'zoth, little orc." Wrathion said. "It is an old god. Your task is to enter it and take it's essence, it is the only way to defeat it."

"How do I enter it?" Bucky looked at the old god in wonder. The only entrance to it was it's large ugly maw. "Can't you dragons just destroy it with your fire?"

"I am afraid it is not as easy as that. The heart of the old gods is binded to Azeroth. Destroying them along with their hearts would destroy the world itself. All we know would be lost. You must take his heart and kill him from the inside. The heart will be kept safe and preserved and the world will be saved. But only you can do it."

Bucky looked at the dragon, frowning. Weren't black dragons corrupted? He didn't know if he should trust the drake, but it seemed like the only solution. 

Wrathion flew closer to the creature and Bucky jumped.


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end! Or is it?

It was dark inside this creature, and Bucky didn't actually know what he was looking for. 

He floated in darkness for a while, a strange thing considering this creature seemed to have no internal organs, just a void where everything should be.

_ So you have entered _ . The Hydra, no, N'zoth said in Bucky's mind.  _ You should have never trusted the black dragon, him and his brood are corrupted, they will betray you _ .

"Everybody will betray me according to you." Bucky sighed and looked around. Where was this thing's heart anyway?

_ Everybody will betray you once they have used you. _ The voice said.  _ The boy king is using you to look good. The dragons are using you. Do you think that paladin really cares for anything that happens to you? _

Bucky shook his head. Whatever whispers this creature would say were irrelevant. He concentrated and focused on trying to find the heart.

A beat, and then another. Like a war drum, could be heard in the distance. Bucky tried to push forward, to walk or whatever thing he could do to move inside this creature. Soon he was moving in the direction of the beating noise.

There was a big blotch of what looked like ink floating and beating before him.

_ You think you have the power to hold my essence in your fragile little hands? _ The creature whispered. 

"Oh shut up." Bucky said and made to take the heart, but his metal arm was hit by a sword. 

Bucky turned. Steve was standing there before him, but he looked… off.

"I cannot let you take it." He said, and attacked Bucky with his sword. "The heart is Azeroth."

Not-Steve attacked and attacked but he seemed unrefined and his blows were poor. Bucky wondered if this was some sort of illusion fabricated by N'zoth to distract him. 

"You will not take it because you will not fight me. You care too much." Not-Steve said, and charged again, Bucky dodged him and approached the heart again. "Your kind cares too much, they are stupid, they form bonds fast."

"You don't know anything about my kind." Bucky replied and went around the heart. Not-Steve disappeared the same way Sylvanas usually did and materialized in front of the heart, and Bucky.

"Even now, the king schemes. You will be discarded as soon as you stop being useful. That plaything he has, he will grow bored of soon enough. Why would he care for a creature like you or him?"

Not-Steve attacked again. Bucky used his metal arm to stave off the attack and kicked Not-Steve against the heart.

"You don't know me, creature, don't even try to pretend you do."

Bucky took the heart in his metal hand and  _ squeezed _ .

_ FOOLISH CHILD! _ The voice, a whisper at first, was now a scream.  _ IF I DIE I TAKE YOU WITH ME! _

"Then so be it…" Bucky squeezed the heart harder, pulling it away from what seemed to be its connection to the creature.

A cry was heard, loud and shrill like the scream of the ocean itself, and everything seemed to collapse around Bucky. 

He gripped the heart of N'zoth in his metal hand and felt it start to break. The bolts that kept it together unscrewing and flying off, but his grip was still strong. Bucky gritted his teeth, then screamed as he felt like the heart of N'zoth was absorbing everything around him. Not-Steve shrieked horrendously and distorted like a piece of burning parchment. 

Bucky thought of his mother, his little cousin sisters, his loyal Sam. And Steve.

_ I will not see them again _ . He thought vaguely, before closing his eyes.  _ Elements, care for them _ .

The world around him exploded.

  
  


Outside Anduin looked in horror as Bucky jumped into the creature's maw. The Naga burned by the drakes in front of the Azerothian troops. Any naga that managed to pass through the drakes were promptly killed by the soldiers. One against several was just too easy.

"He's inside the old god." Wrathion landed behind Anduin, pushing his back gently with his snout. "He must take the essence of N'zoth."

"He will _ die _ there, Wrathion!" 

"Alextrasza trusts him." The drake said simply. "He will be fine."

The drake and the king regarded each other for a long time. Then the dragon closed it's red eyes.

"I wished to go to you earlier. I am deeply sorry for what happened to the Keep."

Anduin looked down. The Keep. There would be much to do. They both turned back to where the old god floated, uneasy, as he was attacked by dragon fire and cannonballs. 

Suddenly the earth trembled as the sea creature's limbs moved frantically, it seemed to shrivel and then exploded, bathing everything and everyone near it with black ink. Wrathion used his wings to cover Anduin, Kragna and Steve, as well as a few other soldiers. The Naga screamed in agony and grief and rushed back into the sea.

"What has happened?" Zekhan asked, when Wrathion removed his wing. The sea had a big black blotch of ink floating gently in it, the remaining Naga tried to gather it, crying in anguish.

"The old god has been defeated." Wrathion informed him.

"And Bucky?" Steve asked, his voice was small. Wrathion shook his head.

"I am afraid he may be gone."

Steve looked at the ocean. The Kul Tiran ships floated gently, the dragons flew around, roaring in triumph, the Naga cried, the ink was expanding through the ocean.

There was no sign of Bucky.

"No…"

"I am sorry, paladin." Wrathion purred at Steve. "I sent him to his death. It is all my fault." 

"I… we were going to…"

"No sense in thinking about what might have been, paladin. I am sure you will meet again eventually."

The waves licked the sand, Steve marched to the shore slowly. Anduin held Kragna's arm with one hand and petted Wrathion's snout with the other, the black dragon made a noise akin to a whine as they watched the paladin go to the shore.

Steve wasn't sure what he was looking for in the shore, but he kept walking, until the water reached his thighs. His armor heavy with water, his under clothes staining with the ink of what once was N'zoth.

"A survivor!" One of the dragons roared from the air. 

Wrathion raised his head, and took off to the sky, there in the water, floating among the ink, was Bucky.

The black prince took Bucky with his sharp claws and gently deposited him in the shore. Steve ran out of the water as fast as he could with his armor full of water and almost collides with the dragon's wing. 

Bucky's metal arm was almost destroyed, but it gripped something black that beat gently. Tony arrived in his mechanical mount and examined the arm.

"It is almost ruined…" he lamented. 

Bucky was still breathing, but weakly.

"We must put the heart of N'zoth in a safe place." Wrathion said. "No one must find it, they will most certainly use it for evil."

The dragons took the essence of the old god in a container, where Alextrasza promised it would be kept safe. 

As for Bucky, Saurfang and Thrall carried him to queen Talanji's palace, where the troll queen assured Steve and the king he would be taken care of. Unfortunately for Talanji, she had to suffer Jaina, who needed to remove the wards so the arm could be detached from Bucky's body. The Queen's healers looked after Bucky for hours.

Steve feared he would not survive. He didn't sleep waiting for news of Bucky. He held Sam in his arms, who chirped miserably. He wanted to be with his master.

"He will return soon, don't you worry, Sam."

"Maybe when he wakes, you should tell him." Anduin said, Steve frowned at this.

"Tell him what?"

"Figure it out by yourself, Steven! I am not here to solve everything for you!" The king smirked and walked away.

Both factions wondered now what would happen. Sylvanas Windrunner was still out there, she still had to pay for her crimes.

"If the Horde will allow it," Shandris began, "Tyrande will send scouts through Azeroth, looking for her."

"She will meet no resistance from the Horde." Saurfang said, the rest of the Horde leaders agreed. Shandris beamed, this would certainly be good news for her adoptive mother. 

Bucky had dreams. Dreams where the voice of N’zoth still spoke to him. Or maybe it wasn’t his voice. He didn’t know. The whispers were the same.  _ They don’t care about you _ . They said.  _ Once you stop being useful, they will discard you. It will be soon. _

He was swimming again, in that dark ocean like the first time. Only now he was totally alone, only the whispers of N’zoth in his head, the damned whispers that told him he was not worthy of anything and was being used by everyone. 

Something shone from the surface, and Bucky looked up. He tried to swim up but with one arm, it was very difficult.

Light.

There was light in the surface, and he had to reach it, he had to get out. He couldn’t swim up, why couldn’t he swim up? He’d always been good even with one arm.

He was so close to the light. So close. 

“-ck, Buck…” He heard, someone was calling him. Steve! He had to reach the surface! Steve was calling him!

_ You cannot escape me! _ The voice said, but there was nothing to try and stop him from reaching the light and Steve’s voice.

“Buck, you have to… I did… tell you…”

Bucky reached up, trying to at least get a hand to touch the surface, touch the light at least a little, reach Steve.

He could do it.

Steve held Bucky’s right hand. The healers told him Bucky was alright, but it would be a while before he woke up. They had to be patient, he’d wake up soon.

When Bucky finally woke, it was flailing and looking around frantically, spitting water the healers didn’t know he was holding inside him. He looked around until he found Steve and looked like he was going to cry.

“I was in the ocean again… And you helped me out…”

“I did?”

“You didn’t stop talking… Elements, you never do stop talking.”

“He really doesn’t.” Anduin supplied gently. “We are glad you are alright. We have not found Sylvanas yet, but now that N’zoth is gone, I feel like it’ll be a matter of time until we do.”

“The monster… Is it gone?” Bucky frowned, Anduin noded and so did Steve.

“The heart of N’zoth was taken to a safe place, and it’ll stay there.” Steve squeezed Bucky’s hand, the hunter looked down and noticed this.

“You are holding my hand.” He announced, and Steve removed his hand from Bucky’s, there was a faint blush in his cheeks.

“We will let you rest for a bit, Sam is very eager to see you, though. We will bring him here later” Anduin pushed Steve out of the room, and Bucky laid back against the pillows.

He was alive.


	12. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic has finally ended!
> 
> I am not entirely satisfied with it, and I might write some more on it later, but I am glad it's done, I wish to thank everyone who has supported this dumb fic, it has been quite a journey.
> 
> Fanart by greywrites will be posted later, I have to figure out where I want it to go, but I am also thankful for the art and it's very pretty :3

With N’zoth gone, it seemed a lot of things changed. 

For a long time, the earth had felt strange. Now, Malfurion Stormrage placed his two feet on the land, and  _ felt _ it.

“It is healing, my love.” He said to Tyrande, the first walk he’d had in the last few days. “There is hope for Azeroth still.”

Sylvanas was yet to be found, but she would fall soon, with the world healing, Malfurion was sure of it.

  
  


Anduin saw no reason why they had to wait any longer. He scandalized the house of nobles and Genn Greymane and everyone else by announcing that Kragna Wolfbrother was to be his Prince Consort. When spring came, they would first have a mating ceremony in Orgrimmar, then return to Stormwind for a proper human wedding. Some nobles tried to convince him it was a bad idea, but it all fell on deaf ears. Anduin just really didn’t care.

He wanted to wait until spring because then Bucky would have a new arm and the Keep would be rebuilt. The orc had protested but Tony insisted. Natalee had to hold him down so Tony could take his measurements again and make sure they were good before heading to work on another arm.

“It’ll be much more resistant!” Tony promised. “And you’ll be able to do so many more neat things with it, I’ll add some cannons or something.”

“Tony,  _ no _ .” Steve protested.

“Tony,  _ yes _ !” Tony exclaimed, and ran off. Natalee laughed. What an interesting little man that gnome was.

  
  


Come spring, the earth felt different. Bucky had a new arm, the trees in Stormwind filled with flowers, the Keep was rebuilt, and Anduin and Kragna returned from Orgrimmar with coats made of wolf hide. 

Anduin gave his to Bucky.

“Though, to be quite honest, I have never felt this fancy before. But the thought that the furs belonged to some poor animal…”

“The wolf hides are from animals that die in battle, my love.” Kragna informed the king gently. Anduin’s lips formed a small O.

Bucky laughed, but took the wolf hide, he’d never had one before, maybe he’d gift it to his mother when he returned home.

Steve found his mother. She’d been out of the house when Sylvanas attacked and once they returned to Orgrimmar, he found her in the hut with Bucky’s mother. She’d wept for his father and told him now he had to wear the ring of the Rogers family. He was the head of their family now.

“I am so very proud of you, my boy.” She said. “And I am sure he is as well.”

Bucky met Steve’s mother and charmed her immediately, so did Sam. Sarah Rogers was delighted with the dragonhawk that curled on her lap and bit her fingers softly when she tried to pet him.

Steve’s mother made an offhand comment about taking Bucky to spend some days in their rebuilt home, claiming she needed someone strong to help her around and that if her son was not taking him, then she would.

Steve choked on his wine.

“Mother!”

“What? Want not, waste no, my boy.”

Bucky escaped Steve’s mother and sat in the gardens, watching Sam fly around and chirp happily. He wondered if Sam would be happier here, like a normal dragonhawk, instead of in Orgrimmar, helping him hunt scorpids and wild hogs.

“Are the humans too much?” Someone asked behind him and he turned around, it was Steve. He wasn’t wearing his armor for once, instead he wore the army cloth uniform. He looked like a diplomat or something. “May I sit?”

“I’m wondering if I should leave Sam here. He seems so happy in the garden.”

“Hmm… Maybe he should, maybe he really should stay here, he’s probably much happier just flying and eating fruit and being a normal animal.”

“Yeah, I’ll think about it.”

“You know who else should stay?”

“Kragna is definitely staying, you can’t escape him.”

“I wish I could, he’s an idiot.” Steve looked on tragically. “But I wasn’t talking about Kragna. I think you should stay. Not with my mother, but you  _ should _ , I mean, not just because I want you to but--”

“Steve, you talk  _ way _ too much. Shut up for five minutes.”

Steve coughed and looked away, quietly. Bucky chuckled and slowly took Steve’s hand.

Maybe he’d stay.


End file.
